Questions for Catholic converts

[jesse_james]

Do you guys mind if a new guy has a few questions? I promise I wont take up too much of your time

My understanding of Catholicism is probably rudimentary compared to the people here, but still I’d like to know why people convert to Catholicism from Protestant denominations.

What is it that sparks the change? What are doctrinal differences that made you say “this is the religion for me”? These are the two main questions I need answering: why people did it and consequently, the differences in doctrine that caused this change.

Any quotes from the Bible to back up your opinion is appreciated. I’m not looking for arguments, really, I’m a nice person and don’t like conflicts. If you want to “flame” people and use silly insults then please take your business else where. I can’t stand immaturity and would like this thread to be conducted in a friendly manner.

Links to external material would be cool too. Thanks, people.

P.S. I would like it if this thread got some good replies, not just for me, but for everyone who reads it.

 

[thistle]

Do you guys mind if a new guy has a few questions? I promise I wont take up too much of your time

My understanding of Catholicism is probably rudimentary compared to the people here, but still I’d like to know why people convert to Catholicism from Protestant denominations.

What is it that sparks the change? What are doctrinal differences that made you say “this is the religion for me”? These are the two main questions I need answering: why people did it and consequently, the differences in doctrine that caused this change.

Any quotes from the Bible to back up your opinion is appreciated. I’m not looking for arguments, really, I’m a nice person and don’t like conflicts. If you want to “flame” people and use silly insults then please take your business else where. I can’t stand immaturity and would like this thread to be conducted in a friendly manner.

Links to external material would be cool too. Thanks, people.

P.S. I would like it if this thread got some good replies, not just for me, but for everyone who reads it.

Grace.

 

[jpjd]

I’m not a convert, I’m a cradle Catholic, but I once had a conversation with our Director of Religious Education that may answer your question.

She helps run the RCIA program that converts go through to become Catholic, so she hears a lot of conversion stories. She told me that many of these people are drawn to the Mass. The Mass is solemn, reverent, and they can tell we are worshipping Somebody. The Eucharist is real, and Jesus is really present. That is what they see in the Catholic Church and so they want to be a part of it.

 

[By_His_Mercy]

Hi Jesse,

For me, it was the fact that Catholic doctrine matched the Bible better than anybody else. Actually, I was raised Catholic, became protestant evangelical for decades, and went back last month.

Here’s just a couple…

Justification…from the Protestant side, I was told all of my future sins were forgiven right now. I’m justified by faith at a point in time, once-for-all, and will not be condemned because of that alone. It’s faith plus nothing…no further work for God to do after calvary (the latter is called ‘sanctification’…nothing to do with keeping me from being condemned).

But the Bible says the Lord disciplines us so that we won’t be condemned along with the world (1 Cor 11:32). That’s not the finished work of Jesus at Calvary…it’s ongoing workmanship by God in us…to keep us from being condemned along with the world. And when we sin, we still confess to receive forgiveness and cleansing of all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9). If someone is out sinning against God, we pull them back and save their soul from death (James 5:19-20)…we snatch some from the fire (Jude 23). I think postconversion sins are forgiven after confession and repentance. (See my signature line.)

Also…the Catholics have the sacraments taught right. They are signs of something which they are actually effecting…not just symbols. For instance, after Paul converted, he was told “don’t delay, go up and be baptized and wash away your sins” (Acts 22:16). You wouldn’t say this to an unbeliever. So Paul was already a believer, but still had to have his sins washed away at the time of baptism. That’s not just a symbol. Also, at the anointing of the sick…sins are forgiven then too (James 5:14-15).
At ordination, a spiritual gift is bestowed by the laying on of hands (2 Tim 1:6). These aren’t just symbols…they symbolize something that is happening at that time.

Please check out the Catholic Church…I’ve been to an evangelical seminary and really have studied the Bible for decades. I really believe Catholic theology fits the Bible the best. It’s more complicated…it’s “feature-rich” and some things developed over time…but I believe the foundation of all of it is scriptural. Look at John 21:16…Jesus tells Peter alone to shepherd His Sheep. Jesus was the Shepherd and was about to go off into heaven. In the presense of the other apostles, He told Peter alone to shepherd His sheep…providing a visble basis of unity. Remember how Jesus prayed at Gethsemane…that they’d be one so the world would know that He came from the Father?

Check us out!!

God bless you,

• BHM

 

[argonaut]

I was raised in the Church of the Brethren, a pacifist church similar to the Quakers and Mennonites. I married a Catholic in my church first. Back 40 years ago in Arizona, the priest in my inquiry class stated that Protestants were not truly married and that babies not baptized went to limbo, I couldn’t convert then. My Brethren Minister told me, before we got married in my church, that it would be easier for me to convert, than it would for my husband-to-be. He also said that the Catholic Church was changing. Later we took a class with a priest in New Mexico, he must have known about the new changes and I converted there and we were married in the Catholic Church.

I used to love how quiet and solemn the Mass was, the reverence. How the Church was open during the day, for prayers, Stations of the Cross, lighting a candle. Through the Church I found out how much Jesus loves us, how He suffered for us. I found out about Catholic Mysticism, Saint Teresa of Avila, that we can know God and have a relationship with Him, “the Kingdom of God is within you”.

I’ve now left the Catholic Church, after my own experience of mysticism, because I believe that people in other religions also go to Heaven, God loves them, as we love our children. “In My Father’s House are many Mansions, I go to prepare a place for you.”

It is not easy to be a follower of Jesus, but I try to do that everyday. That means not judging others, loving everyone.

I learned a prayer from a Monk during Mass in Philadelphia…to pray to “think correctly”.

 

[1edyson]

www.catholicscomehome.org.

 

[broski234]

Hi Jesse,

For me, it was the fact that Catholic doctrine matched the Bible better than anybody else. Actually, I was raised Catholic, became protestant evangelical for decades, and went back last month.

Here’s just a couple…

Justification…from the Protestant side, I was told all of my future sins were forgiven right now. I’m justified by faith at a point in time, once-for-all, and will not be condemned because of that alone. It’s faith plus nothing…no further work for God to do after calvary (the latter is called ‘sanctification’…nothing to do with keeping me from being condemned).

But the Bible says the Lord disciplines us so that we won’t be condemned along with the world (1 Cor 11:32). That’s not the finished work of Jesus at Calvary…it’s ongoing workmanship by God in us…to keep us from being condemned along with the world. And when we sin, we still confess to receive forgiveness and cleansing of all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9). If someone is out sinning against God, we pull them back and save their soul from death (James 5:19-20)…we snatch some from the fire (Jude 23). I think postconversion sins are forgiven after confession and repentance. (See my signature line.)

Also…the Catholics have the sacraments taught right. They are signs of something which they are actually effecting…not just symbols. For instance, after Paul converted, he was told “don’t delay, go up and be baptized and wash away your sins” (Acts 22:16). You wouldn’t say this to an unbeliever. So Paul was already a believer, but still had to have his sins washed away at the time of baptism. That’s not just a symbol. Also, at the anointing of the sick…sins are forgiven then too (James 5:14-15).
At ordination, a spiritual gift is bestowed by the laying on of hands (2 Tim 1:6). These aren’t just symbols…they symbolize something that is happening at that time.

Please check out the Catholic Church…I’ve been to an evangelical seminary and really have studied the Bible for decades. I really believe Catholic theology fits the Bible the best. It’s more complicated…it’s “feature-rich” and some things developed over time…but I believe the foundation of all of it is scriptural. Look at John 21:16…Jesus tells Peter alone to shepherd His Sheep. Jesus was the Shepherd and was about to go off into heaven. In the presense of the other apostles, He told Peter alone to shepherd His sheep…providing a visble basis of unity. Remember how Jesus prayed at Gethsemane…that they’d be one so the world would know that He came from the Father?

Check us out!!

God bless you,

• BHM

Well said BHM! Great answer. This is a clear cut understanding of scripture and Catholic teaching. Amen

 

[DL82]

Well, for me it was a number of things that led to my attending Catholic Churches for Mass, but really only one thing that led to me becoming Catholic.

Firstly, I had been an Evangelical protestant from the age of 18, and I never liked the idea of divisions in the Church, I never referred to myself as anything other than just “Christian” if I could help it. When I first read the New Testament I was struck by the number of gaps in it. So many times in the gospels, it says “Jesus sat down and taught them” or similar things, and then omits WHAT He taught them, because the gospels were written for an audience who already knew. St Paul fills in some of the gaps, but Paul is responding to particular problems in the churches, not setting out a systematic theology. It also became clear to me that Evangelicals, despite what they say, have their own canon of Tradition that fills this gap.

Secondly, the more I looked at church history, the harder it was to accept the protestant position. If, like most mainstream protestants, you accept the canons of the early Ecumenical Councils, such as the doctrine of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Nicene Creed, which are not explicit in the Bible, then you have to ask why the Church had the authority to interpret Scripture in the early days but not today? The idea of being ‘non-denominational’ is also relatively new, and developed in the 19th century as a practicality arising from problems in the mission field. Prior to that, a Baptist preacher would show up in an African village where a Methodist preacher was already doing mission work, and they’d both spend more time arguing with eachother than converting the people - there was a church-hopping craze in early Victorian England as new denominations set themselves up daily, and people desperately hunted around for the ‘right’ Church, because the detail was important. Historically, the detail has always been important, it mattered to God whether you were in the ‘right’ Church. It was only because of practicalities in the mission field that this stopped and protestants began to ignore denominational differences and work together.

Thirdly, I had always felt a call to monastic life, and through the Anglican Franciscans had begun to explore the life and spirituality of St Francis.

Fourthly, the Anglican church I was attending at the time was going through some real problems with authority, and these were mirrored by the general breakdown of authority within the worldwide Anglican communion. I knew at that time that I wanted to join the Church that Jesus founded, and began exploring Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

Fifthly, I was going out with a girl at the time who became Catholic.

BUT, the one and only thing that mattered happened on Corpus Christi 2006, when the procession with the monstrance began and I had a sudden realisation that this really IS the Body of Christ. I wanted to fall on my face before my Lord. That’s the gift of faith. You can’t go back from there. Lots of things can lead to an interest in the Catholic faith, but Faith is a gift from God.

 

[jesse_james]

Thanks a lot for the replies, some really interesting points have been raised and I’m unsure where to begin.

Luckily, the idea of being saved by grace or by works is something I am very familiar with; so are the divisions amongst Protestant denominations. As a matter of fact, they’re two issues I’ve researched.

However, on the subject of grace or works, I’m still confused by it (despite extensive reading). It seems that people will strongly argue both sides of fence, despite the fact that numerous passages seem to indicate both. Some even argue that it’s a combination, same say it’s a biblical contradiction; I don’t know.

Most of my friends are protestant and I’ve been told that “repentance is a Catholic thing” (despite Jesus directly telling people to do so…I also think some confuse it with confession) and “nothing needs to be done to be saved; but once saved, we will want to do good works in His name”.

Due to certain passages, something about these two statements doesn’t sit right with me. As I said though, it’s confusing, and I don’t expect you guys to answer for me.

Also, I can really empathize with people, especially these days, looking for the ‘one true church’. I’ve spent the best part of the past 3 years looking for that answer.

 

[neophyte]

…I’d like to know why people convert to Catholicism from Protestant denominations…

I’m a convert. I grew up attending a Methodist Church, and went to 2 successive religious schools that were run predominantly by Baptists and Presbyterians.

As the Westminster Confession says, Christ established a government in the hands of Church officers, giving it the authority to determine cases of controvery and binding all believers to submit to those determinations. When I examined the historical evidence to find which denomination has existed since the time of the Apostles, I found that it was the Catholic Church. There is absolutely no evidence for the existance of any ancient Church hierarchy that taught the theology of the Reformers. All of the ancent texts are decidedly Catholic in nature.

Then, when I began to seriously study Catholic theology using Catholic sources, I found that it was coherent and in no case contradicted the actual texts of Sacred Scripture. On the other hand, when I reevaluated Reformed theology I found it to be self-contradictory in numerous respects, involving multiple direct and implied contradictions of Scripture.

 

[neophyte]

…However, on the subject of grace or works, I’m still confused by it (despite extensive reading). It seems that people will strongly argue both sides of fence, despite the fact that numerous passages seem to indicate both. Some even argue that it’s a combination, same say it’s a biblical contradiction; I don’t know…

This was something that I always struggled with until I read a book called something like “Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith”. One of the things discussed was the etymology of the Jewish word for “faith”. That made sense to me, because since Jesus was a Jew, the Apostles were Jews, and our faith is the flowering of Judaism, then we need to understand faith as a Jew would.

The Hebrew word aman is translated as “believe”, “trust”, “have faith”, and also “support”, “nourish”, and “make lasting”. A derivative word is omenat, meaning “pillars” or “supports of the door” as in 2 Kings 18:16. Another cognate is emunah, which is “faithfulness” or “trust”, as in Exodus 17:12 where God brought victory to Israel as long as Moses would hold his hands up. Aaron and Hur held up his hands so that they “remained emunah until sundown”. All of these illustrate that faith is an action that we take. Faith is a work, it’s about what you DO and not merely about what you believe, thus this whole “faith vs. works” idea is schizophrenic.

THAT made a lot of sense to me, and it was an impotant key to helping me understand the relevant biblical texts. I finally realized that James wasn’t contrasting faith vs. works, he was showing how they are inextricably linked as an organic unity!

So imagine my surprise when I later found that that’s essentially what the Catholic Church has been saying all along. The Catechism of the Catholic Church expresses this by saying that faith is an act of the will in which one turns toward God and away from sin; in which we decide that we will cooperate, with our intellect and will, with the divine grace that God gives us to enable us to comply with the moral law; it is a free response of the human person to the initiative of God; it is a personal adherence of the whole man to the God who reveals himself. It is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that HolyChurch proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. By faith “man freely commits his entire self to God.” For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God’s will. “The righteous shall live by faith.” Living faith “work through charity.”

These are all actions, things we do in obedience to God by His grace. We cannot make the act of faith unless God gives us at that moment the grace to do it. Thus the Apostle Paul says in Romans 1:5 "Through Him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith…” This obedience is the essence of Christianity: submission to the Eternal One who was enfleshed, and through that submission being brought into union with Him so that we may participate in His divine life.

 

[neophyte]

I’m a convert. I grew up attending a Methodist Church, and went to 2 successive religious schools that were run predominantly by Baptists and Presbyterians.

As the Westminster Confession says, Christ established a government in the hands of Church officers, giving it the authority to determine cases of controvery and binding all believers to submit to those determinations. When I examined the historical evidence to find which denomination has existed since the time of the Apostles, I found that it was the Catholic Church. There is absolutely no evidence for the existance of any ancient Church hierarchy that taught the theology of the Reformers. All of the ancent texts are decidedly Catholic in nature.

Then, when I began to seriously study Catholic theology using the best Catholic sources, I found that it was coherent and in no case contradicted the actual texts of Sacred Scripture. On the other hand, when I reevaluated Reformed theology I found it to be self-contradictory in numerous respects, involving multiple direct and implied contradictions of Scripture.

 

[cpayne]

Do you guys mind if a new guy has a few questions? I promise I wont take up too much of your time

My understanding of Catholicism is probably rudimentary compared to the people here, but still I’d like to know why people convert to Catholicism from Protestant denominations.

What is it that sparks the change? What are doctrinal differences that made you say “this is the religion for me”? These are the two main questions I need answering: why people did it and consequently, the differences in doctrine that caused this change.

Any quotes from the Bible to back up your opinion is appreciated. I’m not looking for arguments, really, I’m a nice person and don’t like conflicts. If you want to “flame” people and use silly insults then please take your business else where. I can’t stand immaturity and would like this thread to be conducted in a friendly manner.

Links to external material would be cool too. Thanks, people.

P.S. I would like it if this thread got some good replies, not just for me, but for everyone who reads it.

It was a series of things:

1. I realized the need for something like a Magisterium. Really, there is no other way for Protestants to resolve their differences and come to even a measure of unity.
2. Studying philosophy, theology, and apologetics, I came to realize that the thinkers I agreed with and got the most out of reading were all Catholics. I didn’t plan it that way at all; it just came about. The only exception was C.S. Lewis, and he was pretty close to Catholic.
3. Studying the history of the Christian Church made me realize that God had worked through the Catholic Church. It’s either that or else, as many of my friends believed, there was a big thousand-year gap when God couldn’t do anything because of being stifled by the CC. And I knew that wasn’t true.
4. From there it was a step to thinking: “What if the CC is right?”
5. I began to notice a number of positions I had adopted over the years which were actually much closer to Catholic than Protestant: yes to authority of the Church, no to “scripture only,” no to “faith only,” no to dispensational end-times prophecy, yes to infant baptism, no to young-earth creationism, yes to asking saints for prayer, yes to praying the Rosary, yes to Mary’s position. And the list just kept growing. All of this went on for years while attending an independent charismatic Protestant fellowship (which I still attend with my family).
6. I encountered some Catholic apologetics teaching on the Bible. Wow, what an eye-opener. I suddenly realized that, even though I thought I knew the Bible inside-out, Protestants really do ignore about half of the New Testament. At least, we never preach on it! There are some verses never mentioned because we really are not sure what to do with them—certainly not take them literally! (For example, Jesus giving His apostolic ministers the power to forgive sins. In 35 years of Protestant Christianity, I’ve never heard a sermon even mention that passage.)
7. The sudden realization that, given all this, the Presence of Christ is in the Eucharist. (By the way, I still cannot receive communion yet.)

So it wasn’t really a “spark” to convert. It’s been a decades-long process that is still going on. Pray for me and my family, please.

 

[Randy_Carson]

Do you guys mind if a new guy has a few questions? I promise I wont take up too much of your time

My understanding of Catholicism is probably rudimentary compared to the people here, but still I’d like to know why people convert to Catholicism from Protestant denominations.

What is it that sparks the change? What are doctrinal differences that made you say “this is the religion for me”? These are the two main questions I need answering: why people did it and consequently, the differences in doctrine that caused this change.

Any quotes from the Bible to back up your opinion is appreciated. I’m not looking for arguments, really, I’m a nice person and don’t like conflicts. If you want to “flame” people and use silly insults then please take your business else where. I can’t stand immaturity and would like this thread to be conducted in a friendly manner.

Links to external material would be cool too. Thanks, people.

P.S. I would like it if this thread got some good replies, not just for me, but for everyone who reads it.

My initial move toward Catholicism was prompted by the realization that there was a religion called “Catholicism” about which I knew absolutely nothing. I was puzzled by references to Catholic things in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Billy Joel’s song, “Only the Good Die Young”, and the Beatles songs, “Lady Madonna”, “Eleanor Rigby”, and others. Okay, I know the Beatles weren’t Catholic, but I didn’t know that when I heard them singing about Father McKenzie darning his socks.

As I began to read about Catholicism, I was struck by one simple truth: Jesus founded one Church which still exists to this day.

My conversion was not so much a result of comparing theology but of considering the course of history. Like Newman before me, as I went deeper into the history of Christianity, I ceased to be a Protestant.

I didn’t have the agonizing struggles that many Protestants face…and I consider this a great grace that God gave to me…something for which I am grateful to this day.

 

[Starwynd]

i converted because it was I was drawn the most to. Still, there will always be problems that I have with some of the things that are taught.

However, I lost a few friends when I did because they’re all protestants. All my life they wanted me to convert to Christianity. They said it would be good for me, and when I finally found my faith I decided to be a Catholic, they got very upset with me because, according to them, catholics are not real Christians. And they can’t stand it when I tell them it’s not for them to judge who is and isn’t a real Christian but is left up to the providence of God to judge. Now they just don’t want to be around me even though I don’t really say anything about my faith and don’t shove it into their faces the way they have shoved their faith into my face all the time.

I thought they’d be happy for me when I found my faith. If it were really truly about me finding my faith they should have been. But I guess it wasn’t and it saddens me.

 

[AaronK88]

I really can’t help you too much because I am still pretty ignorant about the bible. I was born and raised an atheist, and found faith when I was eighteen. I became a Christian at heart. I decided to convert to Catholicism when I was nineteen, after taking a year of Culture and Civilization in college. I was fascinated with Catholic history, and I had a girlfriend at the time who was Catholic, who I attended Mass with.

I like the sacraments, I also think they hold most true to the original Church established by Jesus and continued by Peter our Bishop.

Most protestant religions seem to be watered down versions of true Christianity in my opinion. It is like they decided, “Oh, I don’t like certain aspects of my faith, so I’m going to start my own Church that suits my own personal needs.”

I almost immediately get offended when non-Catholics state that Catholics aren’t true Christians. I could make the same argument for Protestants.

 

[ferdie]

Do you guys mind if a new guy has a few questions? I promise I wont take up too much of your time

My understanding of Catholicism is probably rudimentary compared to the people here, but still I’d like to know why people convert to Catholicism from Protestant denominations.

What is it that sparks the change? What are doctrinal differences that made you say “this is the religion for me”? These are the two main questions I need answering: why people did it and consequently, the differences in doctrine that caused this change.

Any quotes from the Bible to back up your opinion is appreciated. I’m not looking for arguments, really, I’m a nice person and don’t like conflicts. If you want to “flame” people and use silly insults then please take your business else where. I can’t stand immaturity and would like this thread to be conducted in a friendly manner.

Links to external material would be cool too. Thanks, people.

P.S. I would like it if this thread got some good replies, not just for me, but for everyone who reads it.

I’m a revert catholic. I attended Born Again Fellowship Christian Church, Liberty Bible Baptist Church and was under indoctrination in the Iglesia Ni Cristo when I went back to the Catholic Church.

When I was away from the Catholic Church, I kept asking myself why are there so many christian churches and why can’t they be united? And when I asked my protestant pastors the founder and origin of the churches I was attending, they gave me American names and 20th century dates, and in the case of INC, they gave me a Filipino name. That does it for me and started researching the Catholic Church that I left for granted.

I read christian history books and catholic apologetics and compared it to the protestant churches I was atteding and found out that these churches can’t stand historical, and doctrinal scrutiny.

 

[George14]

My conversion was to Jesus in a remarkably emotional grace. But what made me choose the Catholic Church was “common sense.”

By that I mean this:

1. JESUS founded that church: not someone else. There is no other church in the West that can say that. Protestantism was a matter of hundreds of sects in 1953 - and it now counts in the scores of thousands!
2. The New Testament wasn’t a text book for Christianity. It didn’t even EXIST for many years; PEOPLE that Jesus chose and appointed were “the church,” and the Bible came from THEM and other followers, and was codified by serious men in concert. So the church is the source of the bible, not the other way around.
3. There are far too many OTHER world-wide miraculous and major occurrences that come to us from Catholicism: mostly things about the Blessed Virgin: no other church in the West even MENTIONS the Blessed Mother! Astonishing, when you think of that alone.

AND there is something enormously compelling in the Gospel of John of how he witnessed so much and testified to it so intensely and personally in his gospel. The last verses of it in particular. I think you have to be quite cynical to miss the power, the depth, and the clarity of his words there: such words do NOT speak to a religious discipline of “It’s ok to believe something…” as opposed to TRUTH doesn’t have places for disagreement. Then, having read THAT, the rest of the Gospel accounts do not admit of anything other than THE REAL PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST. There AIN’T any of that elsewhere! And that is so profound as to admit of no compromises!

 

[ferdie]

My conversion was to Jesus in a remarkably emotional grace. But what made me choose the Catholic Church was “common sense.”

By that I mean this:

1. JESUS founded that church: not someone else. There is no other church in the West that can say that. Protestantism was a matter of hundreds of sects in 1953 - and it now counts in the scores of thousands!
2. The New Testament wasn’t a text book for Christianity. It didn’t even EXIST for many years; PEOPLE that Jesus chose and appointed were “the church,” and the Bible came from THEM and other followers, and was codified by serious men in concert. So the church is the source of the bible, not the other way around.
3. There are far too many OTHER world-wide miraculous and major occurrences that come to us from Catholicism: mostly things about the Blessed Virgin: no other church in the West even MENTIONS the Blessed Mother! Astonishing, when you think of that alone.

AND there is something enormously compelling in the Gospel of John of how he witnessed so much and testified to it so intensely and personally in his gospel. The last verses of it in particular. I think you have to be quite cynical to miss the power, the depth, and the clarity of his words there: such words do NOT speak to a religious discipline of “It’s ok to believe something…” as opposed to TRUTH doesn’t have places for disagreement. Then, having read THAT, the rest of the Gospel accounts do not admit of anything other than THE REAL PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST. There AIN’T any of that elsewhere! And that is so profound as to admit of no compromises!

Your first reason is the same as mine. Before I started comparing
doctrinal differences, I had to answer the origin of the church first. And I just can’t accept a church that just came up 200 years ago.

 

[Church_Militant]

Do you guys mind if a new guy has a few questions? I promise I wont take up too much of your time

My understanding of Catholicism is probably rudimentary compared to the people here, but still I’d like to know why people convert to Catholicism from Protestant denominations.

What is it that sparks the change? What are doctrinal differences that made you say “this is the religion for me”? These are the two main questions I need answering: why people did it and consequently, the differences in doctrine that caused this change.

Any quotes from the Bible to back up your opinion is appreciated. I’m not looking for arguments, really, I’m a nice person and don’t like conflicts. If you want to “flame” people and use silly insults then please take your business else where. I can’t stand immaturity and would like this thread to be conducted in a friendly manner.

Links to external material would be cool too. Thanks, people.

P.S. I would like it if this thread got some good replies, not just for me, but for everyone who reads it.

Here’s my experience. My Testimony

A lot of my own scripture and research are on my Catholic blog called Apocalypsis